Drunk driver off to prison

Don’t expect to see Dee Lynn Hall behind the wheel of a car any time soon.

Hall, 33, of Williamsburg, was sentenced to 24 months in the Ohio Department of Corrections by Brown County Court of Common Pleas Judge Scott T. Gusweiler for a conviction of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or a combination of them. Hall was previously indicted by the Brown County Grand Jury on three counts of OVI, all fourth-degree felonies.

One-hundred and twenty days of the sentence are mandatory. The sentence also includes a lifetime suspension of Hall’s driver’s license, with no driving privileges for the first three years, and a fine of $1,350.

The court will consider releasing Hall into the STAR program if she earns parole.

According to the bill of indictment, Hall had three prior convictions of OVI in Clermont County within the last six years.

Per documents filed in the Brown County Municipal Court, Hall was seen driving on the wrong side of the road in Pike Township on June 16. At 12:26 p.m., a trooper with the Ohio State Highway Patrol witnessed Hall’s 2014 red Chevrolet Cruise failing to remain on the right side of the road.

The trooper was warned by the dispatch for a Chevrolet Cruise on the road after a family member allegedly called in to say that Hall had been drinking heavily that morning and now was on the road, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The affidavit says that the trooper allegedly smelled a strong odor of alcohol from Hall’s vehicle after he pulled over Hall, and Hall allegedly struggled mightily in field sobriety tests.

Hall refused to take any blood alcohol content tests initially, but submitted to a blood test after the trooper acquired a search warrant.

On July 20, Hall was indicted on three counts of OVI, all fourth-degree felonies, with specification for forfeiture of her vehicle.

Hall was arraigned on August 11, and after initially pleading not guilty, Hall changed her tune and pleaded guilty on September 25. Hall was later sentenced on October 9.